Bottom Line Series

This refers to any unsolved problem facing a consumer in the market. Investors and entrepreneurs try to identify consumer pain points in order to decide on making investments and developing new products for an unexplored market.

Consumers are not always aware about their pain points, so businesspersons may have to figure out these points on their own through the process of trial and error and sample studies.

The study of pain points is common to start-ups which try to find the actual potential of their ideas before committing to making huge investments.

It is also the centre of attention of groups that are involved in conducting market research.

What is ‘identifiable victim effect’ in philanthropy?

This refers to people’s tendency to donate more money and gifts when they are told about the sufferings of an individual rather than when they are told about the problems of a large group.

So, a person may be more likely to donate for a development cause when he is persuaded with information about a poor man’s abject living conditions instead of the miseries of the world’s poor. The identifiable victim effect is seen as preventing donors from making objective decisions.

Instead, it makes them take emotional decisions that may not necessarily help out the most unfortunate victims in need of help.

What is ‘introspection illusion’ in psychology?

This refers to a cognitive bias which causes people to believe that they understand the underlining reasons and motives behind the choices that they make.

Cognitive psychologists argue that when people are asked about the reason for their choices, they usually make up answers that don’t actually explain the rationale behind their choices.

This is because even when people do not have sufficient insight into their feelings, they still wish to offer a rational explanation for their choices.